“No.” The word was a whisper on my lips, a pathetic plea I wanted him to give into.
“Yes,” he said confidently.
“No.” This time it was a wretched sob from my chest.
“Yes.” His hand brushed my shoulder. “It will always be yes.”
I closed my eyes against the poison of his touch and breathed in the fresh air. I wasn’t a fighter. I wasn’t a killer. But I wasn’t a slave either.
I was just a girl that wanted to be free. And as long as Nix was alive, I would never be free from him.
I understood Exie’s choice in this moment. Death was better than this. Death was infinitely better than the hell that was Nix.
With the salty air in my lungs, my power came to life. I felt it everywhere, tingling through my blood and vibrating in my bones. I breathed in the air, but I breathed in the island too.
This sand was mine. These waves were mine. This ocean that stretched farther than the eye could see was mine.
My power built and expanded until I was nothing but energy and control, influence and muscle. I was a Siren at my basest, in my very center… at my very core.
I turned to look back at Nix and I felt on fire with authority. I wasn’t the girl he had held beneath his thumb and manipulated my entire life. I wasn’t the scared victim that ran away and tried to hide.
I was a worthy adversary that would send him to his watery grave.
“Let’s go get the sword,” I whispered.
I will never know if he followed after me because I told him to or because he finally believed I was serious. His actions could have been for either reason or maybe they were for both.
We took off at a sprint, racing each other for the waves. I kicked off my sandals so I could dig my feet into the sand and find purchase. The beach was warm beneath my feet until it turned cold and wet at the shoreline.
I hit the waves with purpose, wading through the rough surf with my knees high and the expertise of a veteran.
My athleticism on land was pathetic at best, but in the water my body instinctively knew what to do.
I dove over the last wall of waves, when my feet could no longer touch the sandy bottom.
Nix was directly to my left. His long, lithe body cut through the water without issue. He disappeared beneath the surface of the water and my heart beat with frantic haste to catch up to him.
I had always kept my eyes shut tight in the ocean before, but instinct whispered to open them. I listened because there was no way I could find the god-killer blind, but I was surprised to learn that I could actually see plainly under the water.
The deeper we dove, the clearer my surroundings became. I didn’t need the filtered light of the sun; I had some supernatural power that made these depths my realm.
This was my world.
The god-killer floated beyond our reach. Its heavy hilt dragged it toward the bottom, but it seemed reluctant to go.
I kicked my legs and sped through the water. My arms pumped with the effort to beat Nix. I had to swim faster. I had to be better. I had to kill him before he killed me.
Tropical fish darted out of our way. Bright colored coral made the terrain beautiful and breathtaking. But we kept swimming without paying them any attention.
Down we went. Beyond the warmth of the sun to the cold depths in their dark wonder. The water sluiced over my body, the temperature only invigorating me.
When I couldn’t hold my breath any longer, I stopped trying and found that I didn’t need to breath.
Not here. Not in this place that I belonged.
It was strange at first. The human part of me wanted to open my mouth and suck in a long lungful, but thankfully instinct and self-preservation overruled.
Nix stayed with me. His robe billowed around him in the weightlessness of the water and tangled his feet, but his focus was only on the god-killer.
